Ahr Submission

---
name: ahr-submission
description: "Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for The American Historical Review (AHR) via ScholarOne — masked-author preparation, the roughly 8,000-word target, Chicago notes, manuscript formatting, image alt-text and permissions, and the exclusivity declaration. Final checks; it does not draft content."
category: general-purpose
source_repo: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills
source_path: "American-Historical-Review-Skills/skills/ahr-submission/SKILL.md"
source_url: https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills/blob/HEAD/American-Historical-Review-Skills/skills/ahr-submission/SKILL.md
---


# Submission Preflight (ahr-submission)

The last check before uploading to **ScholarOne / Manuscript Central** (`mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ahrev`).
The AHR is **anonymous (double-blind)**, so the most common avoidable failure is an under-masked
manuscript. Verify volatile specifics on the official page before relying on them.

## When to trigger

- "Submitting tomorrow" — last pass before upload
- Unsure which files/metadata ScholarOne expects
- Confirming length, notes, masking, and image requirements are met

## Process facts (verify volatile items on the official page)

- **Owner / publisher:** American Historical Association (AHA) / Oxford University Press.
- **Portal:** **ScholarOne / Manuscript Central** (`mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ahrev`); submit a
  **Microsoft Word** document — **email submissions are not accepted**.
- **Review model:** **double-blind / anonymous** — mask the author's identity throughout. Roughly
  **a quarter** of submissions are sent out for full review; **every article published in the AHR has
  been reviewed by at least six scholars**.
- **Decision timeline:** a decision is targeted within about **six to eight months**.
- **Acceptance:** the *AHR* publishes roughly **8–10% of the ~360 manuscripts** it receives per year —
  a reach for any author; lead with a first-order question, not an incremental one.
- **Length:** ideally **≤ 8,000 words** of text, **not counting notes, tables, and charts** (treat as
  a strong target; see 待核实).
- **Notes:** **Chicago Manual of Style** footnotes/endnotes; guideline **~2:1** text-to-notes at
  submission — a typical 8,000-word article carries **~4,500–5,500 words of notes**, so budget notes
  well above "half the text"; **no bibliography**, **no in-text parenthetical** (see
  `ahr-citation-and-style`).
- **Formatting:** **8½ × 11, Times New Roman 12 pt, double-spaced, numbered pages.**
- **Images:** **alt-text** under each figure legend; **author clears reproduction permissions/rights**.
- **Abstract:** whether a separate abstract is required is **待核实** — check the ScholarOne prompts.
- **Fees:** **no author processing fees**; 50% discount on up to 10 print copies.
- **Exclusivity:** not under consideration, published, in press, or under contract elsewhere.

## Preflight checklist

### Length & notes
- [ ] Text ideally ≤ 8,000 words (notes/tables/charts excluded)
- [ ] Chicago notes; no bibliography; no in-text parenthetical; ~2:1 text-to-notes
- [ ] Archival citations specify collection, box/folder, archive

### Anonymity (double-blind)
- [ ] No author name, affiliation, acknowledgments in the manuscript
- [ ] No self-revealing phrasing ("in my earlier book…"); self-citations neutralized
- [ ] Identifying **file metadata stripped** (document properties, comments)

### Format & files
- [ ] Word document; 8½ × 11; Times New Roman 12 pt; double-spaced; numbered pages
- [ ] Figures with alt-text under each legend; permissions plan in place
- [ ] Separate (non-anonymous) title/contact info as ScholarOne requires

### Compliance
- [ ] Original work; exclusivity declaration true (not under consideration elsewhere)
- [ ] Reproduction rights for all images identified and obtainable

## Anti-patterns

- Leaving author identifiers in the text, acknowledgments, or file metadata (breaks anonymity)
- A works-cited list or in-text citations (the AHR uses Chicago notes only)
- Submitting by email or to the wrong portal
- Concurrent submission elsewhere
- Leaving image permissions and alt-text to the editorial stage

## Output format

```
【Length】text ≤ ~8,000 words (notes excluded)? [Y/N]
【Notes】Chicago, no bibliography, no in-text parenthetical? [Y/N]
【Anonymized】text + self-refs + file metadata clean? [Y/N]
【Format】Word / 8.5x11 / TNR 12 / double-spaced / numbered? [Y/N]
【Images】alt-text + permissions plan? [Y/N]
【Exclusivity】declaration true? [Y/N]
【Next】await decision → ahr-revision-and-response on R&R
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — manuscript prep, masking, and image tooling
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — portal, format, length, notes, fees, exclusivity

---

**Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `American-Historical-Review-Skills/skills/ahr-submission/SKILL.md`